Pure PlayStation

PS4 Pro Will Have an Extra 1GB of RAM, Will Improve PSVR Games

Back when Sony announced the open-secret that was PS4 Pro (codenamed NEO) a few weeks back, we didn’t really understand the full extent of what was going on inside the mid-generation refresh. To be honest, all we saw was Mark Cerny and Sony trying to sell us on the idea of buying Sony’s 4K TVs.

Turns out that we’re not as smart as we think we are (note: only applies to the author of this article) as there seems to be more than meets the eye with the PS4 Pro. Sony recently hosted an event in its new San Mateo HQ where Mark Cerny shared more details on the chunky console.

Much of what’s spoken about in the Eurogamer report will fly right over the heads of most readers, so we’ve picked a few choice parts from the interview that are at least put into terms that layman gamers can understand.

For one, the PS4 will feature an extra gigabyte of RAM. Don’t get too excited though as this gig of extra juice will be used exclusively for swapping out between non-gaming apps such as Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, etc. Cerny explains the reason behind this bit of tinkering:

“On PS4 Pro, we do things differently, when you stop using Netflix, we move it to the slow, conventional gigabyte of DRAM. Using that strategy frees up almost one gigabyte of the eight gigabytes of GDDR5. We use 512MB of that freed up space for games, which is to say that games can use 5.5GB instead of the five and we use most of the rest to make the PS4 Pro interface – meaning what you see when you hit the PS button – at 4K rather than the 1080p it is today.”

Fair enough, even if we didn’t understand, we know that a higher number = better stuff, and with all the talk of 4K resolutions with 4KTVs, there’s good news for those with HDTVs that aren’t 4K: your game will still look good, and they may even look better. Developers are being encouraged by Sony to push for the 4K resolutions with PS4 Pro, though it doesn’t mean regular HDTV owners will be left in the dirt. Cleaner images, better motion blur, god rays, and all sorts of other techy stuff will be available to those who aren’t ready to invest in a 4K set just yet.

And finally, PlayStation VR. Performance on the PSVR with the regular PS4 is nothing to sniff at, but according to Mark Cerny, second-gen PSVR games will benefit from the PS4 Pro’s extra juice under the hood. We’re not sure how exactly so we’ll have to wait and see on that claim. It’s important to remember that the PSVR’s sub-HD resolution per-eye can’t be changed without the headset itself going under a revision. What we’ll likely see is smoother performance and perhaps graphics that look a little more pleasing on the eye.

There’s a lot more over on Eurogamer, though be warned that there’s a lot of techno jargon that even we nerds don’t fully understand.

Looking forward to the PS4 Pro, or are you not interested in a mid-generation upgrade? Would you prefer a clean-cut away from the PlayStation 4 to get an upgrade? Let us know down in the comments section below.

Chris has been writing about gaming news for far too long, and now he’s doing it even more. A true PlayStation know-it-all, Chris has owned just about every Sony console that ever existed. Trophies are like crack to this fella.